ようにする/なる in Japanese

Overview

The paired expressions ようにする and ようになる are essential tools for describing habit formation and gradual change in Japanese. At the B2 level, mastering these patterns allows you to express personal efforts to develop new habits and to describe how situations or abilities have evolved over time.

ようにする means "to make an effort to" or "to try to do something habitually." It conveys deliberate, conscious effort toward maintaining or establishing a behavior. ようになる, on the other hand, means "to come to" or "to reach the point where" something happens, expressing a natural or gradual transition rather than deliberate effort.

These two expressions build on the simpler ように pattern you learned at A2 level. While ように expresses purpose or manner, adding する or なる shifts the meaning toward active habit-building or passive change. Understanding the contrast between these two forms is fundamental to expressing personal growth and life changes naturally in Japanese.

How It Works

ようにする — Deliberate Effort

This pattern expresses conscious effort to do or not do something habitually.

Structure	Meaning
Verb (dictionary form) + ようにする	make an effort to do
Verb (ない form) + ようにする	make an effort not to do
ようにしている (progressive)	have been making an effort to (ongoing habit)
ようにしてください	please make sure to

ようになる — Gradual Change

This pattern expresses a change in state or ability that developed over time.

Structure	Meaning
Verb (dictionary form) + ようになる	come to do / reach the point of doing
Verb (ない form) + ようになる	reach the point of not doing
Verb (potential form) + ようになる	become able to do
ようになった (past)	came to / started to

Key Distinction

Pattern	Agent	Nuance
ようにする	you (deliberate)	conscious effort, discipline
ようになる	situation (natural)	gradual change, new normal

Examples in Context

Japanese	English	Note
毎日運動するようにしています。	I make sure to exercise every day.	Ongoing deliberate habit
野菜を食べるようになりました。	I've started eating vegetables.	Gradual change in behavior
遅刻しないようにしてください。	Please make sure not to be late.	Polite request for effort
日本語が話せるようになりました。	I've become able to speak Japanese.	Acquired ability
朝早く起きるようにしています。	I make an effort to wake up early.	Ongoing discipline
最近、コーヒーを飲まないようにしています。	Recently, I've been trying not to drink coffee.	Deliberate avoidance
子供が一人で着替えられるようになった。	The child has become able to dress by themselves.	Natural development
甘いものを食べ過ぎないようにしましょう。	Let's try not to eat too many sweets.	Suggestion for restraint
彼女のことが好きになるようになった。	I came to like her.	Gradual emotional change
毎晩、寝る前に本を読むようにしている。	I make it a point to read a book before bed every night.	Established habit
忘れないようにメモしておきます。	I'll take notes so I don't forget.	Preventive effort
やっと自転車に乗れるようになりました。	I've finally become able to ride a bicycle.	Achievement after effort

Common Mistakes

Confusing する and なる

• Wrong: 日本語が話せるようにしました。 (implies you deliberately made yourself able to speak)
• Right: 日本語が話せるようになりました。
• Why: Acquiring an ability is a gradual process (なる), not a one-time deliberate action. Use なる for changes in ability.

Using the wrong verb form with ようになる

• Wrong: 日本語を話すようになれました。
• Right: 日本語を話すようになりました。 or 日本語が話せるようになりました。
• Why: ようになる itself already expresses the change. Don't put なる into potential form.

Forgetting ている for ongoing habits with する

• Wrong: 毎日運動するようにします。 (sounds like a one-time resolution)
• Right: 毎日運動するようにしています。 (ongoing effort)
• Why: When describing a current ongoing habit, use ようにしている. Without ている, it sounds like you are making a new resolution.

Using ようにする for involuntary changes

• Wrong: だんだん寒くなるようにした。
• Right: だんだん寒くなるようになった。
• Why: Weather changes are not under your control. Use なる for natural, involuntary changes.

Usage Notes

ようにしている is extremely common in daily conversation when people talk about their lifestyle habits, health routines, or self-discipline. It carries a modest, humble tone — even if you always do something, using ようにしている sounds less rigid than simply stating the fact.

In formal contexts, ようにする appears frequently in instructions and guidelines: 個人情報を漏らさないようにしてください (Please make sure not to leak personal information).

ようになる is the go-to pattern for describing personal growth narratives — learning to cook, getting used to a new city, or developing a taste for something. It appears heavily in self-introductions and experience-sharing conversations.

The casual spoken forms しよう/するようにしよう are common in informal speech when making resolutions with friends.

Practice Tips

• Keep a weekly journal in Japanese where you write one thing you ようにしている (are trying to do) and one thing that ようになった (you've come to do). This builds both patterns into your active vocabulary through personal reflection.

• Listen to Japanese interviews or podcasts where people discuss lifestyle changes. These frequently use both patterns, and hearing them in natural context helps solidify the する vs. なる distinction.

• Practice converting between the two: take a sentence with ようにする and think about how the same situation would sound with ようになる. For example, 野菜を食べるようにしている → 野菜を食べるようになった. Notice how the nuance shifts from effort to result.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: ように (purpose/manner) — the foundational pattern that ようにする and ようになる extend
• Next steps: こと Expressions — another set of advanced verb-modifying patterns for decisions and obligations